Reservists Get Festive Send-off

December 3, 1990|Staff reports

WEST PALM BEACH -- The Persian Gulf crisis hit so close to home for Brian Berkenfeld that he threw a going-away pizza party on Sunday night for Marine reservists scheduled to be sent to Camp Lejeune, N.C., on Tuesday.

Berkenfeld, owner of a West Palm Beach Dominos Pizza, lay in bed on Saturday night and thought about the uncertain future that a friend and members of the 4th Anglico faced.

``I received a call from my friend. He told me he was going off to fight. I started thinking about his kids and his wife. It started to depress me, and I wondered if there was anything I could do,`` Berkenfeld said.

He jumped out of bed and called the Holiday Inn on Belvedere Road, where he and hotel assistant manager David Neil plotted a party, which was attended Sunday by about 60 reservists and their families.